German carmaker Daimler has cut its dividend as fourth-quarter operating profit fell 22% as trade wars and rising costs for developing electric and self-driving cars hit profits at its Mercedes-Benz unit.

Volkswagen’s leaders have approved a five-year spending plan that aims to further the German automaker’s goal of transforming itself into a leading force in electric cars.

PSA Group, the French carmaker which owns the Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall, and Opel brands, plans to cut 400 jobs at a UK plant in Ellesmere Port to adapt production to falling sales.

Renault shares posted the biggest decline in a year after first-half profit fell short of estimates and the car maker said price pressures are rising in some markets.

Shares in Daimler rose after the company solidified its lead in the luxury-car market and said it’s confident of reaching this year’s underlying profit goals, despite more than €1bn in one-time costs in the second quarter.

Shares in Fiat Chrysler slumped to a three-month low as its fight with Germany over vehicle emissions escalated after the country’s most-read newspaper reported that the authorities found that the company had cheated.

Volkswagen lost almost a quarter of its market value after it admitted to cheating on US air pollution tests for years, putting pressure on chief executive Martin Winterkorn to fix the damaged reputation of the world’s biggest car maker.

In 2014, European car sales rose for the first time in seven years as buyers replaced aging vehicles with low-cost ones. The market’s revival from a two-decade low is set to continue in 2015.

A new lithium battery could triple the range of electric cars and reduce costs, and be in use within 12 months.

BMW has posted record car sales for 2011 and forecast that a boom in luxury cars would keep it ahead of rivals this year as the world’s biggest maker of premium cars sees strong demand from China and the US.